Tag: Mardy Fish

The high-stakes, par-3 Grass League Championship features pro golfers, an LPGA player, an ex-MLB pitcher and live music

There will be 44 two-person teams competing on the first fully lit golf course in Arizona.

Former PGA Tour golfers, a current LPGA golfer, a former Major Leaguer and a celebrity golf champion are all a part of the Troon Access Grass League Championship.

There will be 44 two-person teams in all converging on the first fully lit golf course in Arizona, Grass Clippings Rolling Hills.

Just minutes from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport as well as Arizona State University, the golf course will host this 36-hole scramble over two days, Dec. 5-6 in Tempe, Arizona.

The first round on Thursday will start at 5 p.m., just as the sun is going down, and will be played under the lights. There will be an after party at 9 p.m. on the event lawn at the course. Friday’s final round starts at 1:30 p.m. with the awards ceremony taking place at 9 p.m.

Who’s in the field?

The notable teams include:

  • Hollywood Hitters – Mardy Fish, Mark Mulder
  • Phoenix United – George Gankas, Nick Mason
  • Minnesota Muskies (Team 1) – Drew Kittleson, Drew Stolz
  • Minnesota Muskies (Team 2) – Andrew Medley, Ken Tanigawa
  • Los Angeles Roses – Sarah Schmelzel, Carson Kemp
  • Scottsdale Strikes (Team 1) – Jonathan Kaye, Kenny Coakley
  • Scottsdale Strikes (Team 2) – Tommy Moore, Andrew Magee
  • Dallas Horsemen – Brad Dalke, Clay Seeber

Mardy Fish is a former World No. 1 tennis player who won the American Century Championship near Tahoe once. Mark Mulder won 103 games as a starting pitcher in the MLB and has won the ACC three times. Sarah Schmelzel is a current LPGA golfer who had seven top-10s in 2024. Jonathan Kaye is a two-time PGA Tour winner, including the WM Phoenix Open at nearby TPC Scottsdale. Andrew Magee is a former PGA Tour player who made the first-ever hole-in-one on a par 4 at TPC Scottsdale during the Phoenix Open.

What else is going on at the golf course?

There will be live music as well as a DJ. In addition, food trucks will be stationed at the course alongside a beer garden and hospitality tents.

Grass Clippings Arizona
The Grass Clippings golf course in Tempe, Arizona, has lights for nighttime play. (Photo: Golfweek)

What is the Grass League?

This is the first high-stakes par-3 league with teams in nine cities. There are four teams per franchise. The 2024 GL Championship is sponsored by Troon Access, a new loyalty program, and GolfNow.

More about Grass Clippings Rolling Hills

First opened nearly 66 years ago, the Rolling Hills Golf Course underwent a massive overhaul to become the first fully lit, 18-hole golf course in the state. It reopened in December of 2023 as a par-63 layout during the day and an all-par-3, par-54 venue at night, with clearly marked artificial turf tee boxes for use during the late hours.

There are about 80 LED lights on the course. The night-time yardages range from about 100 to nearly 200 yards. The topography provides multiple elevation changes and the design has several elevated tee boxes. Even at night, there are great views of the downtown Tempe area, downtown Phoenix and airplanes overhead making their descent into the airport.

Mardy Fish captures 2024 American Century Championship, second ACC celebrity title

The ACC set an attendance record of 77,049 fans over the week.

STATELINE, Nev. — After finishing second last year in a thrilling duel, Mardy Fish might have had a small chip on his shoulder.

But Fish is known for handling his emotions well, as well as having a dry, sarcastic sense of humor.

He made up for last year’s disappointing second-place finish by capturing the title on Sunday in the American Century Championship at Edgewood Tahoe.

He finished with 83 points in the Modified Stableford scoring system, after scoring 26 on Sunday, following a blistering tournament-record 34 points on Saturday.

Joe Pavelski was hot on his heels all week and finished second with 79 points. Annika Sorenstam was third with 68 and John Smoltz finished fourth with 64.

ACC: Best celebrity photos

Fish won $150,000 for first place, an increase over previous payouts. Last year Curry won $125,000. Fish’s score was one point off the tournament record of 84 set by Billy Joe Tolliver in 2010.

Fish joked when asked what he would do with the money.

“I mean, I got bills to pay, man. I live in Los Angeles. I have two kids right there that are very expensive,” he said, smiling and pointing to his two children in the media room Sunday. “It kind of shows where the tournament’s going and where it’s headed and continuing to sort of grow the American Century Championship throughout.”

Fish also won the ACC in 2020, when no spectators were allowed at Edgewood. His entire payday that yer was donated to charities around Lake Tahoe.

The start of Sunday’s third round was delayed about a half hour due to rain around Lake Tahoe.

Fish said that delay did not affect him.

“No big deal. “It gives you time to go mingle with your buddies you haven’t seen. I saw Larry Fitz (Fitzgerald), he was coming off No. 9, going to 10. And we were just about to tee off — first time I’d seen him all week. We’re good buddies; he’s a Minnesota boy and so am I,” Fish said. “I was texting with Travis Kelce all week. And he’s, I’m going to find you tomorrow, period. And we had the delay. So you get to kind of see those people that — I don’t see those guys very often other than here or maybe Orlando or something like that.”

Pavelski has announced he will retire from hockey, He played for the San Jose Sharks and then the Dallas Stars.

Having that time off could help his already solid golf game though.

“This is my best showing. I think if I could replicate this here the next few years, if we get the opportunity, hopefully we have a chance to lift that trophy like Fish is doing,” Pavelski said. “Golf is a game I love. Definitely going to be playing, practicing, trying to get a little better at it. But you get in a tournament you never know how fully it’s going to play out.”

The ACC set an attendance record of 77,049 fans over the week.

Jack Nicklaus once told former tennis pro Mardy Fish he should be pursuing a career in golf; this week he is at 3M Open

“He will not embarrass himself,” 3M tournament director Hollis Cavner said.

Mardy Fish rose as high as No. 7 in the world during his career as a professional tennis player. He’s pretty darn good at golf too. In fact, no less than Jack Nicklaus ranks him No. 1 among non-professionals golfers he’s played with and served up this high praise.

“We played nine holes and he drove the ball on every single hole in the middle of the fairway, further than I have seen anybody hit it who is not a professional,” Nicklaus said. “He shot 31 for nine holes. I said, ‘Mardy, what are you doing? You have got a talent and you are young enough to take advantage of it. You need to go play golf.’ ”

In 2019, Nicklaus went so far as to recommend to 3M Open tournament director Hollis Cavner that Fish be offered a sponsor’s exemption into the PGA Tour event, but that year Cavner instead chose eventual tournament winner Matthew Wolff and runner-up Collin Morikawa, who had both recently turned pro.

“I figured if Mr. Nicklaus can’t get me in, I may as well not try,” Fish said.

Thanks to the help of former Minnesota Viking Kyle Rudolph, who is also a 3M ambassador, Fish, an Edina native, received the chance this year.

“We wanted to do something different. See how he would compete,” Cavner said. “He will not embarrass himself.”

In late April, playing in the celebrity division of the ClubCorp Classic, a PGA Tour Champions event in Irving, Texas, Fish edged former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo in a sudden-death play at Las Colinas Country Club. Better known for his tennis prowess, the 2004 Olympic silver medalist plays to a plus-2.8 Handicap Index.

“It’s special that it’s here as well,” said Fish, who tees off in the opening round at 9:02 a.m. on Thursday, of his Tour debut. “I’m born just down the road and spent the first five years of my life here and root for the Vikings and the Twins and the Timberwolves. I didn’t go to college. My dad went to the University of Minnesota, so a lot of roots were laid down here a long time ago. I’m just excited that it’s here and where I’m from and where I was born. And I don’t get to come back very often and so this is a special, certainly a special trip.”

It’s believed that Fish, who won six times on the ATP Tour, will be the first person to compete on the ATP Tour and PGA Tour. But he’s not the first to have success in both sports. Former Tour pro Frank Conner is one of only three men to ever play in the U.S. Open of both golf and tennis.

“In tennis, I was really a basket case before matches,” Fish said. “Once they called my name or once I walked down on the court, I felt great.”

Fish won the American Century Celebrity Golf Championship in Lake Tahoe in 2020, shooting a final-round 63 to break Lee Trevino’s course record, and finished sixth in the event two weeks ago. But having left it all out there on the tennis court, Fish said he’s not interested in a new career in sports and doesn’t have any grand illusions of becoming a PGA Tour star.

“Look, I certainly don’t expect to, you know, compete to win the tournament necessarily, but making the cut is something that I’m eyeing big time,” he said. “Look at some of the scores of the past and I don’t know, it seems fairly doable score-wise, but then you’ve got to get out there and actually play.”

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Tony Romo on the rocks: Former Dallas Cowboys QB fumbles away celebrity division title in playoff

The ClubCorp Classic celebrity division came down to NFL analyst Tony Romo and tennis pro Mardy Fish.

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo had a spotty playoff record behind center – 2-4 lifetime – and it didn’t get any better Sunday on the golf course.

Playing in the celebrity division of the ClubCorp Classic, a PGA Tour Champions event in Irving, Texas, Romo, 42, held the lead until he hit into the water at the par-5 18th hole at Las Colinas Country Club and made bogey, while former tennis pro Mardy Fish responded with a clutch birdie. That forced a tie with 106 points in the Stableford scoring system.

Fish won the playoff when Romo, the lead analyst on the NFL for CBS Sports these days, again rinsed his second shot into the penalty area and Fish converted a short birdie putt.

“It’s nice to catch Tony this time,” said the 40-year-old Fish, who is the U.S. Davis Cup Captain and has been battling regularly with Romo on the celebrity golf circuit. “He’s a great player. He had plenty of support here. We’ve got a nice rivalry building.”

It came down to 18, where Fish avoided the penalty area and Romo did not.

“Get it over the water was the thought initially and then we’ll figure it out from there,” Fish said. “Obviously feels great to win and get to beat him, especially here. I’m sure he’s played the course a few more times than I have, but conditions were tough out here.”

Romo held the lead after the first and second rounds, but shot the equivalent of 73 on Sunday, good for 34 points to Fish’s 70 that generated 37 points.

“I played well, did a lot of good things, but that 18th hole is what cost me,” Romo said. “The wind is swirling; I hit pretty good shots. Going over par on that hole after being in good position is just not going to get it done.”

LPGA Hall of Fame member Annika Sorenstam finished third with 100 points.

The modified Stableford scoring format awards 10 points for an albatross, 5 for a hole-in-one and eagle, 3 for birdie, 2 for par, 1 for bogey and 0 for double bogey.

Fish won the $100,000 first-place prize from the Celebrity Division purse of $500,000.

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Mardy Fish wins first American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament

Mardy Fish rode a stellar day Saturday to another solid round Sunday and captured his first title in the American Century Championship.

Sometimes the Fish catches the trophy.

Mardy Fish rode a stellar day Saturday to another solid round Sunday and captured his first title in the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament at Edgewood-Tahoe. He has won twice at celebrity tournaments in Florida.

Fish scored a tournament-record 37 points on Saturday, then added 21 on Sunday to finish with 76 points. First-round leader Kyle Williams ended in second place with 67 points, scoring 15 on Sunday. John Smoltz was third with 58 points and Steph Curry was fourth with 56.

Fish had five straight top-five finishes at Edgewood before this year.

“I’ve wanted to play well here for a long time. It just doesn’t suit my eye very well. So I haven’t put it all together. And thankfully I put it all together yesterday, because it wasn’t today and it wasn’t Friday,” Fish said.

Fish said the absence of spectators was not a factor this year at Edgewood.

“I focus in pretty good anyways. I’ve played a lot of matches in Davis Cup formats for the U.S. in some pretty hostile places, Colombia and Switzerland, and all over the place. And they’ll yell in your overhand and yell in your serve. So I’m used to that kind of stuff,” he said.

American Century Championship scores

The purse of $600,000 will be donated to Lake Tahoe groups and various COVID-19 charities. Fish would have won $125,000 and Williams $60,000.

Williams, who played for the Buffalo Bills, said his putts wouldn’t fall on Sunday. He had one birdie on Sunday.

This was his second time playing at Edgewood.

“I knew if I only made one birdie today it wasn’t going to get it done,” Williams said. “But I played pretty solid. To shoot what I have over the last three days, I’m not going to complain about it. Had a great week and looking forward to more.”He said nerves were not a factor Sunday.

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“Just, sometimes with us being ex-professionals or professionals at something else, we’re not going to hit the ball the way the professionals do or we’re not going to roll the ball the way they do,” Williams said. “As competitive as we are and think we ought to, it just doesn’t work out that way.

“The more reps you get, the more comfortable; good things are ahead. Like I said, finishing second, I’m so happy for Mardy. I don’t like that he did it at my expense, but at the same time I’m really happy for him.”

Williams said even if there was prize money, he would not have accepted it, because he is an amateur and because there are better uses for it

“With everything that’s going on in our country right now, there are better places for that money to be allocated than to us who get to come out here and spend a great week in this setting, at this tournament, enjoying old friends, new friends, all that,” he said.

Smoltz was a little frustrated after Saturday’s round when he scored 17 points.

But he was much happier Sunday.

“My biggest thing is I can’t believe how good I hit it and how poorly I scored,” Smoltz said. “I didn’t 3-putt all week. I only made three bogeys all week, and yet the birdies just didn’t fall. So 16 tries at birdie today and I only made two of them.

“And that’s the difference. I mean, you play this golf course, I striped it pretty much all day, except for one hole … I had a lot of chances to change the environment early on, and that’s what I was hoping to do, is put some pressure early. But there was just no way those putts, they just weren’t falling.”

Smoltz said he was sure Fish would win early on Sunday.

“I thought he won the tournament on the first hole when he hit his second shot in the water, made 15-foot for bogey; goes from zero to minus 2, and all of a sudden Kyle had a five-footer or six-footer for birdie, early on,” Smoltz said. “Mardy hits the ball so far and he has such great touch. So playing against him is, I knew going in this that lead wasn’t anything I could do anything with.”

Curry was the best-finishing active athlete in the tournament.

His father, Dell Curry, finished with 50 points and was also in the top 10. Steph had spotted Dell six points, so they tied in the family competition.

Steph Curry said he thinks he can win the ACC someday, adding getting off to a good start is key and getting into the competitive mindset.

“That first day is always kind of the shaky one, just getting into competitive golf mentality, which is always — it’s tough. This game is extremely hard,” Curry said. “I do think I can get it done. But I’ve got a couple more years on the court. So maybe play the odds on that front, but I think I can get it done.”

He said winning the ACC while still competing as an active professional athlete would be huge.

“I know in terms of active guys and our day jobs and how much we spend on our crafts outside of golf, but it’s nice to represent all the active guys in that respect; but to be the first active one, I think, to win it, I’m still searching for that one. That would mean a lot,” he said.

Fish, 38, was a professional tennis player in the early 2000s. The hard-court specialist won six tournaments on the main ATP tour and reached the final of four Masters Series events.

At the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, Fish won a silver medal, as he reached the final in the men’s singles before losing to Nicolás Massú.

In April 2011, Fish became the top American in the ATP rankings, reaching a career-high singles ranking of No. 7 in August.

He retired from pro tennis after the 2015 U.S. Open.

Two-time defending champion Tony Romo withdrew, citing a wrist injury he suffered during Saturday’s round.

Charles Barkley held good to his guarantee of not finishing last as he finished 69th out of 70 golfers, besting Eddie George by three points.

Watch: Steph Curry takes dive into Lake Tahoe after final round of American Century Championship golf tournament

After the final of the American Century Championship, Steph Curry dove into the water of Lake Tahoe with Canelo Alvarez and Mardy Fish.

In a sport that’s riddled with history, a new golf tradition is building in Lake Tahoe.

For the eighth consecutive season, Stephen Curry joined the star-studded field at the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament.

Curry’s father Dell joined his son in the tournament field. With each tournament, the father-son duo competes against each other in a friendly bet. At the end of the match, the golfer with the lower score has to dive into Lake Tahoe’s water.

Dell began the tournament outplaying his son in the first round. However, strong performances from the two-time Most Valuable Player in rounds two and three helped propel him near the top of the leaderboard.

With the Stableford scoring system in place, Curry’s 26 in round three was the top score on the tournament’s final day. The Golden State point guard finished fourth in the competition, three spots ahead of his father. Although it was Dell’s turn to take a leap into the lake, a group of other golfers decided to make the dive.

After finishing with a 76, tournament champ Mardy Fish hopped in the lake with both of the Currys and boxer Canelo Alvarez.

Via @ACChampionship on Twitter:

Former Buffalo Bills defensive linemen Kyle Williams placed second at 67, with MLB Hall of Fame pitcher John Smoltz rounding out the top three with a score of 58.

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Mardy Fish jumps into lead at American Century Championship

The American Century Celebrity Tournament features Tony Romo, Steph Curry, Patrick Mahomes and Charles Barkley

Mardy Fish began with a bogey and never looked back.

The former American tennis pro leads the American Century Celebrity Tournament through 36 holes after scoring 37 points in the second round at Edgewood Tahoe. Fish carded 10 birdies Saturday, ending his round with five straight and he has 55 points in all. Fish, 38, previously won the Diamond Resorts Invitational in Orlando in 2016 and 2018.

The ACC is a 54-hole tournament using the modified Stableford scoring format.

First-round leader Kyle Williams sits in second with 52 points after added 27 to his total on Saturday. Williams is a former NFL defensive tackle. Former MLB player John Smoltz sits in third with 37 points.

Two-time defending champion Tony Romo is T-4 along with Dell Curry and Derek Lowe with 36 points.

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Among the active athletes in the field are Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry, who is in 11th after carding a second-round 76, and Kansas City Cheifs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The reigning Super Bowl MVP is T-46 after two days along with Jimmy Rollins.

First place is good for $125,000.

NBA on TNT and former NBA star Charles Barkley is also in the field. Before the event started, he guaranteed that he wouldn’t finish in last place.

So far, so good, but just barely.

Barkley is currently second-from-last, three points ahead of former NFL running back Eddie George.

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